- Hey guys.
With back to school season upon us,
the lunchbox grind will soon begin.
So, I wanted to give you three
great ideas for packed lunches,
using some leftovers you might
already have sitting in your fridge.
I'll be demonstrating these lunches,
in my new favorite lunchbox, called the OmieBox.
It is the most versatile lunchbox around.
In fact, I just went out and bought two for
my girls and one for myself, I think they're so great.
I'll put all the information in the description.
Okay, so let's pack some lunch.
So, you know how you might have some
leftover chicken sitting in the fridge?
This usually happens to us on Monday,
when we make a big roast chicken on Sunday.
So, what I do, is I take a cup of chicken broth,
pour it in a small saucepan.
Add the leftover chicken.
And then add some frozen peas and frozen carrots,
which I always have sitting in my freezer.
And then add a little bit of dried basil.
It's a kind of herb that, I think,
works really well for kids, because it's sweet.
Simmer this mixture and then you can
go ahead and pour it into the thermos compartment.
This is what I love about this lunchbox.
The thermos is actually part of the lunchbox.
So, you don't have a separate thermos
that you then also have to pack.
And then you can just fasten the top.
And presto, your little soup is ready to go.
And then in the compartment above,
I'll pack some fresh fruit.
Mangos and blueberries, as a mixture.
It's a great flavor combination
and I also just think the colors are so pretty.
And then in the long compartment to the left,
what's nice about this, is it has a little divider.
So you can move that around,
depending on what you want to pack.
So, I usually will just put an even split,
and pack some crackers, which is nice to go with the soup.
And then, on the other side, I'll tuck in some snap peas.
And, that is a great snack idea, moms,
if you're trying to get your kids to eat more vegetables.
Because, you can serve them raw, so there's a ton of
nutrients in it, and they're so sweet.
They actually don't realize
they're eating a green vegetable.
Might give it a try.
Okay, so next up, lunch number two.
Now this is a lunch that my eldest daughter, who's nine,
really likes me to pack for her.
She is going through this stage
where she loves avocado sandwiches.
So, I'll show you what I do to
put a little more protein in it.
So, this is a great lunch idea when you have
half of an avocado that has been sitting
in your fridge and it starts to turn brown.
Well, it is the perfect size to
make one of the avocado sandwiches.
I'm going to scoop the flesh out.
Put it in a bowl.
Add a little squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
Salt and pepper to taste.
And then at this stage, is where the protein comes in.
I like to add a teaspoon of Tahini.
If you're not familiar with Tahini,
it's a really great sesame paste that
I always have on hand because I put it in hummus.
So, if you make a lot of hummus,
it's a great thing to pick up,
cause then you can use it for the hummus and the sandwiches.
And then I'll take two pieces of whole grain bread.
I'll spread this avocado-Tahini mixture on the bread.
And then I'll add some sliced radishes,
which just adds a little freshness.
And then two tomatoes.
This way, you get a few more vegetables in there.
So, with this, you can take your
thermos out of the lunchbox.
And then you have a nice compartment to put a sandwich.
And, you can just fit that snugly in the lunchbox.
And then for her dessert, she really loves kiwis.
So, I cut the kiwi in half,
and they fit exactly into that upper compartment.
And, this is a thing that, I don't know,
I'm probably the last person to find this out,
but my French in-laws do this for my kids,
where you cut the kiwis and then you use
them as like a little bowl, with a spoon.
I thought it was the most genius thing,
and when I showed people back here in the States,
they looked at me like, yeah, how else do you eat kiwi?
Anyway, if you hadn't seen that before,
I think it's a great tip and the kids love it
because it makes them feel like
they're eating in a little bowl.
In the side compartment, I'll usually put some veggie chips.
She likes that with the sandwich.
On the other side, for a little bit more protein,
I'll do some roasted cashews and some golden raisins.
It's a really good combo, cause you get that,
sort of saltiness of the cashew,
mixed with the sweetness of the raisin.
It's a really good combo.
And there you go, second lunch down.
Alright, so lunch number three.
So, this is a lunch that I really like to pack for myself,
because I think there are some great flavors
that are associated with this lunch.
So, you know sometimes, when you cook too much pasta
and then you end up with some extra spaghetti
and you don't know what to do with it,
so you pop it in the fridge?
So, we are basically going to take our cold spaghetti
and we are going to turn them into cold sesame noodles.
Which is a really great way to use up extra pasta.
So, in a small bowl, we're gonna combine
one tablespoon of soy sauce.
One teaspoon of rice wine vinegar.
One small garlic clove, that's been minced.
About an eighth of a teaspoon of grated fresh ginger.
Now, if you don't have the ginger, you could leave it out,
but I think it adds a really nice little sweetness to it.
And then, for a little kick, I like to add
1/8 of a teaspoon of chili paste
and 1 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil.
Now, this is the sesame oil that is
brown in color, it needs to say toasted,
because that's the sesame oil with all the flavor.
So, you're going to whisk that
up until everything is combined.
And then you're going to take your cup of spaghetti,
pop it in a small bowl,
drizzle that delicious sauce on top,
and then, at this stage, you really
can add any vegetables you like.
I like to just put some of those
grated carrots that you can buy already grated,
which makes this really easy.
And then one sliced scallion.
Now, I also like to add a little
sprinkling of black sesame seeds.
And then you can give that a toss.
Then, we're going to use the thermos compartment again,
but this time it's going to keep our food cold.
Now, at first glance, it looks like this is a lot of noodles
to fit into that little compartment, but it totally fit.
That's the great thing about this thermos,
it looks really small and compact,
but it actually packs in a lot of food.
And then I'm going to pack myself some snacks.
So, for a little dessert, I like to pack some dried apples,
some raisins or currents, whatever you have on hand.
And a little shredded coconut.
It's a great little combination that,
you have the tartness of the apples
and the chewiness of the raisins,
and then that sweetness of the coconut.
And then, in the long compartment,
this is my little combo that I've
discovered that is quite delicious.
Where you take some of those little pretzel nuggets
and you put that on one side.
And then some of those cheddar cheese sticks that
I buy for my kids, but then I cut it up into little squares,
and then it's kind of a two-pronged effect,
you got to take one of the cheddar cheese things
with the nugget and pop it both
in your mouth at the same time.
It's really good.
The nice thing about this lunch is,
you could make this all the night before,
pop it in your fridge, and then you are all ready to go.
And it'll keep your lunch cold for
four hours after removing it from the fridge.
Alright, so there you have it, three great lunchbox ideas
using leftovers you might already have in your fridge.
I hope you guys give this one a try this season,
and let me know what you think.
I'll see you back here next week
for another quick and easy recipe.
Until then, bye.
(happy music)